Marwin Gonzalez happy to be in starting role

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Focus has always been an issue for shortstop Jonathan Villar and it remains an issue. Awareness on the field, keeping his head in the game — the little things, as well as a .200 average, led the Astros to option him to Class AAA Oklahoma City. But the Astros don’t expect he’ll be gone forever.

“The hope would be after the break it’s, it’s a good checkpoint for us to see how he’s doing and bring him back,” general manager Jeff Luhnow said.

Meanwhile, Marwin Gonzalez is the leading man at shortstop, a chance for him to slide back into regular time. He’ll see the bulk of reps at shortstop, although Kike Hernandez may get some too.

“I had a lot of playing time early in the year last year,” Gonzalez said. “I was playing pretty much every day. I’m happy to get the opportunity again. I’m going to have fun and try to do as much as I can. … I’m just trying to work hard at every single detail on defense.”